It Just Has To Be Delicious

Archive for the ‘Coffee shop review’ Category

DuoTone, East Perth

DuoTone Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Near Perth Mint, DuoTone is one of a group of small cafes, and this is the one that seems to draw the crowds. I popped in the other day for coffee and a snack to see what the fuss is about.
Everything in the cabinets looks nice and the cafe oozes care and consideration. Pastries, rolls, sandwiches – all look great.
I chose a coffee and a raspberry and coconut loaf. The coffee (soy cappuccino) was lovely, rich, but not too bold, and smooth. They certainly know their coffee.

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The raspberry loaf was delicious, maybe a little sweet, but it definitely tasted good, and the staff serving were lovely.

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Based on this visit, I will definitely come back to try more of the goodies on offer.

Last Visit – November 2019

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Duck Duck Bruce, Fremantle

Duck Duck Bruce Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Tucked away in Collie Street, Fremantle, this is one of the best cafes in Perth. It’s quirky, the food is amazingly good, the staff are lovely, and everything is prepared with love and care.

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When we arrived slightly early, our table wasn’t quite ready, but the staff were really friendly and helpful and did their best to get us seated as soon as possible. The menu is funny – dishes have very amusing names like Orange is the New Stack – a pancake stack with burnt orange curd and toasted almonds or The Dating Game – a cauliflower dish with dates, cavolo nero, kale, maple miso dressing, pomegranate, pine nut and parsley crumble.
I chose a hot chocolate to drink, made with coconut milk. It tasted superb, and came with marshmallows and a little duck shaped white chocolate speckle.

The coffee being served on the day was Five Senses Crompton Road blend – it’s always a winner when Five Senses coffee is in the grinder.
I chose a kind of eggs benny style dish with beetroot cured smoked salmon and potato bhajee hash browns – called We’re all Going on a Summer Hollandaise. It tasted divine – perfectly cooked eggs, crispy hash browns, carefully prepared salmon, spinach, cress and greens.

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My companion chose Beans Beans Good for the Heart – smoky beans, poached eggs, plenty of toast, a lovely cheesy bechamel sauce, a touch of sweetness from the bacon jam and a nice crunch to the cheese crisp. All in all a wonderful dish.

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Every mouthful was a joy and I can’t wait to return to Duck Duck Bruce. They do lots of good work in the local community and help to support stray animal homes. You can tell that the staff really enjoy working there. I’ll be back very soon and I might just try the pancakes next time.

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Last Visit Date – January 2019

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Pan Pacific Marketplace, Singapore SG

Pacific Marketplace Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

The Pacific Marketplace is an eatery on the ground floor of the Pan Pacific Hotel, Marina Bay. Hotels are notoriously expensive for dining, but the Pacific Marketplace is a way to dine at a more reasonable price without breaking the bank.
Offering a variety of local and international dishes, the cafe also serves high tea and has a wonderful patisserie. During our stay we tried the patisserie on a few occasions and were very happy with the standard and presentation of cakes.
Chocolate fudge cake, carrot cake, banana cheesecake, black forest gateau, key lime tart:

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Salted caramel eclair, manjari cafe(coffee) gateau, matcha lychee gateau, gula melaka:

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Fruit danish:

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Pralines:

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Strawberry cake and blueberry cheesecake:

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Ivory raspberry:

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These are the cakes that we tried:
Salted caramel eclair – wonderfully smooth caramel filling where the salt flavour came through, beautifully tempered chocolate and dreamy ganache. Very very nice.

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Chocolate fudge cake. A really lovely chocolate hit without being too sickly sweet.

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Key lime tart. Beautifully presented and delicate. It could have taken a bit more lime flavour, but was still very good.

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Carrot cake. Pleasant and good carrot flavour, but could have had a better cake to carrot ratio in the mix.

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All in all, this is a beautiful top end patisserie, and I recommend Pacific marketplace for a stunning afternoon tea.

Last Visit Date – April 2019

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Sweet Spot, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore SG

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If you’re looking for a fine patisserie in Singapore, head for Sweet Spot located in the hotel lobby of tower 3 at the Marina Bay Sands hotel. You can’t miss the hotel – it’s in Marina Bay and dominates the skyline with its three towers and boat like structure at the top. It’s quite a nice idea to walk across the Helix Bridge and then visit the patisserie for some coffee and cake at the end of the walk.

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A vast array of breads, pastries, cakes, macarons and chocolates is on display in the neverending chilled cabinet and it is really hard to make a choice. The cakes are perfectly presented, and the Danish selection is innovative and tempting.

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The cafe serves coffee and tea, and the charismatic staff take care to ensure that your drink order is executed exactly as requested.
I chose a raspberry danish which was beautifully made, fresh and delicious.

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My partner chose an apple cinnamon bun – again very nicely spiced with great
dough/pastry.

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Sweet Spot is well worth a visit, well several visits, because it’s so very difficult to choose just one cake, and the quality of the goods is outstanding.

Last Visit Date – April 2019

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Pablo, New Farm, QLD

Pablo Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Pablo is a nice trendy little cafe in Brunswick Street, New Farm just by the junction of Merthyr Road. There is a selection of tables inside and out, and the vibe is quirky – it’s a little cramped in places, but that’s all part of the charm. Every dish is cooked fresh to order and the place was packed so we were advised by the waitress that we may have a wait on our hands. She was right, we waited around 20 minutes, but it was okay because our expectations had been met and we could see the quality of plates emerging from the kitchen.
Persuaded by the board outside which said ‘Number one hot cakes in Brisbane’, I chose the ricotta hot cakes with lemon curd ice cream, berry compote, cacao nibs, and coconut crumb.

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The plate was a work of art, garnished with flowers, and the hot cakes did not disappoint. They were light and fluffy and not overly sweet with enough natural sweetness coming from the fruits. the ice cream was smooth, tangy and creamy – a lovely complement to the dish.

My partner chose the breakfast chilli.

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The chilli was made from slow cooked beef cheek, speck bacon, red beans and chorizo – it was rich, tasty and nicely spiced. The corn bread had a smear of honey which added a hint of sweetness, the egg was superbly oozy, and the guacamole and salsa a nice smooth contrast to the substance of the chilli.
We also chose some drinks – I had freshly squeezed orange juice and my companion had a large flat white which was nicely smooth and well rounded, the only criticism was that the coffee could have been a bit hotter in temperature.

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Pablo is a real neighbourhood gem, and somewhere that I will come back to. It’s easy to see why the locals love this cafe – it has a menu that makes you want to taste every option and the food definitely delivers. Well worth the wait for delicious, fresh, inspired dishes.

Visit Date – August 2016

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Rogue Bistro, Newstead, Brisbane, QLD

Rogue Bistro Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

When we lived in Brisbane, Rogue was our go-to brunch venue. Located on Austin Street in Newstead, it has an indoor and outdoor area, and some very exciting brunch options. Rogue also serve dinner which is romantic and equally inventive.

Of the brunch options, Savoury Mince is a particular favourite. Servde with quality bread and two poached eggs hidden in the tasty mince, it is simple but amazing.

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Omelettes are also good with caramelised onion and aioli, the omelette filled with pork belly.

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Scrambled egg, mushrooms and toast with feta:

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Popcorn chicken and waffles with fried egg:

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It’s good to see that Rogue still goes from strength to strength. Great quality food, pleasant service, excellent coffee, what more could you want.

Last Visit – September 2016.

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Le Bon Choix, Ascot, Brisbane, QLD

Le Bon Choix Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Racecourse Road in Ascot, Brisbane is foodie joy with several restaurants on this strip, there is bound to be something for everybody.
It is also the place where I found one of the best patisseries in Brisbane – Le Bon Choix.
With seating inside it is the perfect place to have an afternoon coffee and cake.
Every cake is tempting with both individual and (for most) full cake size versions and it is so hard to choose!

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My favourite Bon Choix treat is the salted caramel eclair – smooth and luscious,with a cripsy chocolate top – a very well constructed eclair.

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Another favourite was the gorgeous chocolate caramel pyramid.

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Bon Choix also make great pastries, almond croissants, and lovely savouries too.

Last Visit Date – October 2016

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Pearth Organic Kitchen, West Leederville

Pearth Organic Kitchen Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Pearth is a vegetarian/vegan cafe on Cambridge Street with a clean airy interior. We stopped by today for some takeout and were pleasantly surprised to see so many good options in the cabinet.

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Salads, wraps, savoury tarts, curries and bowls, it was difficult to choose, but in the end I went for a savoury pancake Okonomiyaki with king oyster mushrooms and cabbage. It was really good but could have done with a little more seasoning.

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My partner chose the vegan burrito which was huge, containing rice, beans, avocado, spinach and chipotle spice. It wasn’t too heavy on the spice and again could have been seasoned a bit more.

 

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We also checked out the cake cabinets

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We chose a date, walnut and garam masala muffin, which was tasty but quite dense – not the thing to choose if you want a light cake, but it was really good.

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We also chose a vegan snickers slice which was sweet and gooey and just like Snickers.

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The food at Pearth is definitely made with love and looks amazing. It is a little on the expensive side, but also good quality, they just need to pay a bit more attention to seasoning and it will be Pearthfect.

Visit Date – May 2020

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Cocolat, Scarborough

Chocolat Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Cocolat is a cafe, dessert bar at the heart of the newly refurbished Scarborough Beach esplanade. It is next to the lido, with wonderful panoramic views of the Indian Ocean. I visited this weekend, with some friends. Previously I came here a year ago (and was not overly impressed – it was nice cafe, but didn’t have the wow factor).
This time I chose a pear and pistachio cake, but when it arrived it was quite dense and tasted a bit stale. I took the cake back and the staff replaced it with a chocolate mousse dome that was much nicer.

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My friends chose a lemon tart:

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A mango dome:

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A chocolate lamington and some berry sorbet:

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The desserts were presented well and tasted okay, but still did not deliver on that special something – it seems that squirty cream accompanies everything. The staff made a few mistakes too, which they did rectify, but I felt that they were busy and not paying attention which probably detracted from this being a special afternoon. I haven’t changed my opinion of Cocolat – it’s okay, but it’s not amazing.

Below is an extract from my previous blog post:
You can choose tea, coffee, fruit drinks and smoothies, then there’s an array of gelato and cakes in the display cabinets.

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I chose a fruit smoothie and a raspberry melting moment. The melting moment was a lovely combination of shortcake and raspberry buttercream which I thoroughly enjoyed.

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My partner chose the salted caramel cheesecake, which was nicely constructed. A biscuit base with caramel cheesecake filling and layers of sweet caramel.

The view was very nice, and although the sweets were nice, I wouldn’t travel all the way back to Cocolat to have them again – the food didn’t make us go “wow”.

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Visit Date – November 2018

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Matthew Thomas, Sandgate, QLD

Matthew Thomas Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Matthew Thomas is a lovely little art cafe on the coast road overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Sandgate.

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We arrived for brunch on a Sunday and it was fairly busy. The menu was full of nice choices and it was difficult to decide, but I opted for a mt classic which is eggs, bacon, tomato and sourdough while my companion chose the grande breakfast. Other options on the menu included pancakes, waffles, muesli, salmon, and eggs benedict. I had an almond and nutella shake which was delicious, and the coffee was also very good.

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Every element of the MT classic was done well. The bacon and eggs were full of flavour, the sourdough nicely made and not too crunchy like some sourdoughs can be.

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The grande was equally flavoursome with delicious corn and vegetable fritters, succulent mushrooms, eggs and bacon.

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This is a nice location and everything is served well and nicely presented.
Matthew Thomas was a Brisbane brunch favourite for me.

Later photos from Matthew Thomas (yes we went back regularly):

Salmon with corn fritters:
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Bean dream with cheese toast:
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Last Visit – August 2016

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